


Turn Again To Life

by MistralSoul



Series: Finale [3]
Category: Tales of Eternia
Genre: Gen, Inspired by a poem, Spoilers, one sided Adrende/Ras, postgame
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-16
Updated: 2020-11-16
Packaged: 2021-03-10 00:49:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,848
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27585023
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MistralSoul/pseuds/MistralSoul
Summary: In memory of Rassius Luine, a man who died believing.In memory of Princess Adrende’s love, a form of it, anyway.(Inspired by a poem of the same name)
Series: Finale [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2015978
Comments: 3
Kudos: 3





	Turn Again To Life

**Author's Note:**

> I... may have an issue.

_ If I should die and leave you here a while, _

_ Be not like others sore undone, _

_ Who keep long vigil by the silent dust. _

_ For my sake turn again to life and smile, _

_ Nerving thy heart and trembling hand to do _

_ Something to comfort other hearts than thine. _

_ Complete these dear unfinished tasks of mine _

_ And I perchance may therein comfort you. _

**Mary Lee Hall**

~

Reid huffs, resting an arm on the handle of his shovel that was nestled in ground hollowed out by about three feet, as Farah turns to him, stopping her shoveling. Normally Farah would've left it all to Reid, but today, Reid had to practically let Farah allow him to help.

Because he worried about her, because he also understood where the feelings had come from.

It was Farah's idea, although Reid later learns it was an idea that Princess Adrende helped spark, for it was her that had mentioned a grave for her lover.

A grave for the person who was the very reason they were alive. The very reason the world was alive. 

And yet there was no body, not on Inferia at least. Ras' body must've been taken away by Shileska, although Reid wasn't super sure of the details. They never did see… Anything of him, after that day.

Did he even get a proper burial?

"Hey, Reid?" Farah starts, her shovel now an adornment instead of a place of rest. "Do you think… He's… Never mind."

Her words fall quick, and Reid can only guess she meant proud. So he abandons his shovel and moves over to Farah, placing a hand on her shoulder to comfort her. She looks up from the ground to see Reid's smile, just a split second before he talks. "Of course he's proud. This was what he wanted, wasn't it?"

"Actually, I meant, do you think he's happy?"

Reid's hand leaves Farah's shoulder to move to his chin, a thinking expression. "Well… he should be." But truth be told, he didn't know the answer to that. He would assume so - he wanted something to believe in, and he found it. And his death… Although abrupt, Reid remembers his smile, that smile… There was so much pain, but it felt sincere. 

"But… Yeah, he should be,” she repeats, her voice that fake confident Reid has known in Farah. 

Her gaze falls back to the floor. Reid isn't sure how to proceed. There had to be something extra, something that made her ask that. 

As he picks back up his shovel and starts digging, he hears matching sounds, signifying that Farah had the same idea. 

But why… Why is she questioning that? And then, as he thought harder, he remembered something. Mt. Farlos, when they got separated. She was with Ras, she must've had an actual conversation with him, before… Before Balir's Castle.

"Farah," he says, and she pokes her head up from her digging after he says it again, louder. She smiles, signifying she's listening, and Reid sighs before continuing. "What did he say to you, on Mt. Farlos, that made him hold back?"

"Why this all of a sudden?" she asks, her tone inquisitive, but with a pang of something. Reid couldn't tell exactly what - she was always good at masking her pain - but he knew it was there. When she notices Reid isn't saying anything more, her lips quiver as she looks down to speak. "He just… He seemed confused… About where he stood. About if his path was right. I just wonder… If he finally found peace."

Of course she did. That was Farah, always wondering about the good of others. Always making sure everyone was okay… And some days, Reid wonders if she found peace herself. 

Reid stops shoveling and starts to get the items that Princess Adrende had lent to them for the burial. He tells this to Farah, who stops digging to help him arrange the items in the casket for the man whose body was far from his home land.

"He did what he wanted, so I think he did."

Farah turns, her face surprised before finally settling into a smile. "Yeah, you're right."

About half an hour passes, the casket covered by dirt, and in it a packet of seeds and a fully bloomed flower. The empire had wanted a proper grave, but Reid, Farah, and Princess Adrende had wanted a more simplistic burial. So they had gotten his belongings to remember him by, while the empire made him a monument.

The yellow flower sways in the wind, and as Reid looks up, so does a blonde, her hands occupied by a picnic basket that looks filled to the brim.

Princess Adrende.

Farah and Reid wave, although Reid's is cut short as he tries to silence his rumbling stomach. Princess Adrende comes closer, careful not to trample the flower in her haste.

"Oh, it seems I came at a good time," she says, looking down at the flower with eyes half concealed by her eyelids. "You two finished and did a marvelous job. I suppose you are hungry?"

Reid grins as Farah takes the basket and sets it near the memorial, but not directly next to it. The food is lavish, most likely made by the chefs at the capital, since there was only the best for the Princess. Reid immediately starts eating, nearly missing Princess Adrende's response to Farah's small talk.

"I'm good, I'll be fine. Trust me," she says with a smile, a smile that said don't worry.

Reid didn't trust that smile. Farah had always given him a similar one, all while she was hurting. And he didn't want to see anyone get hurt while he was around. That's why he went through the Seyfert Trials, to protect them all.

And that included Princess Adrende.

"If you need anything, you can talk to us," he says when he's not shoveling food in his mouth. "Just because you're a princess it doesn't mean you have to be alone."

Farah scolds him as Princess Adrende laughs. 

"No, no, trust me he's right, Farah. It's just, you two are lucky to have each other, and I assume it's the same for your other two companions, but when it comes to me -" she smooths her dress as she talks, her gaze falling to her hands as opposed to looking at Reid "- I'm alone. It's as if I have no one… But that's what being a princess is, isn't it? And one day, my father will find me a suitable companion and this feeling of loneliness will fade."

"Ras, right?" Farah says, earning a surprised sound from Princess Adrende. "You loved Ras, didn't you?"

"You've got me all wrong. He was simply… Important to me, but he was not my lover."

Reid opens his mouth to say something, but she stands up and courtesy. 

"I'll have to bid you goodbye, I have lessons. Don't worry about returning the basket or the silverware, they are disposable." 

She walks away, and once she's gone, Farah speaks. "Do you think she's alright?"

Reid shakes his head. "I'm not sure, but either way, I'm sure she'll get over it."

~

The middle of the night comes with a shock. The nightmare. The sweat that drips down his face. The one that jolts him awake, finding himself mouthing "all my fault." Reid thought he was over that, but it appears not. 

He's in a separate room from Farah, so he only assumed she was sound asleep, and he didn't want to wake her. So he takes a lantern and goes for a walk.

Stumbling a bit within the vast castle of Inferia City, Reid comes out to the field outside of it, in the direction of Ras' flower. As he comes across it, he sees a figure with long hair sitting there, accompanied by the sound of muffled crying. 

Princess Adrende was sitting there, alone, crying.

Reid sets his lantern down where he stands and approaches her, sitting next to her and placing a hand on her shoulder, a hand she didn't notice until he speaks.

"Farah was right, wasn't she?" 

Princess Adrende looks up, the tears still falling as she looks Reid in the eyes, before her gaze shifts to the floor as she hugs him, her tears no longer hidden and simply allowed to exist. Reid pats her back until she lets go and comes back up.

"There wasn't a thing I didn't own, and yet I knew my life was missing something. He felt like the person who would make me a whole, and in turn, I would make him whole."

Reid stays quiet, not sure how to respond. Part of his mind wishes it was Farah who had found her, she was always better at consoling people, it was practically her hobby. 

Princess Adrende wipes a tear from her eye, before sniffling and speaking after a moment of the silence, "Oh silly me, I'm the princess, I shouldn't bother you with trivial feelings like this."

"When Ras gave me the Seyfert Key and taught me about the Aurora Artes, he told me to use it to protect the ones who I love. And I decided, I loved the world and my friends and life. I love the journey I was given, although it's really not something I would ask for again. But I guess what I'm saying," he says as he notices her staring at him, "is that… You aren't exempt from this. And when Ras protected us… I can't speak for him, but if I decided to protect you, then he decided to protect you too."

There's a faint smile on Princess Adrende's face as they sit in silence, the light of the lantern illuminating them and Ras' flower.

"Thank you, Reid. For everything." 

~

The next morning, Reid wakes up to a note on his desk and as he reads it, he smiles.

Opening the window curtains, he smiles and breathes in the fresh air.  _ Today's going to be good, we're working on the rocket,  _ he thinks before leaving to fetch Farah, although it really should've been the other way around.

_ Dear Reid, _

_ Thank you for last night. Although I am ashamed as a princess, as a person, I very much appreciate the words you said to me last night. I never once doubted that he wanted to protect me, but being alone has taken a toll on me. Every night I would wake, wondering if he was happy, if that was truly the end he deserved. But now I know for certain, he would want me to create an empire in which people had something to believe in. I knew this, ever since I had freed you and your companions from holding after coming back with news of Ras' death, but once more, it is solidified. Once again, I thank you. I do not know how to repay you for your generosity, so if you are ever in need of something, you or Farah, please call on me. It is the only thing I can think of. _

_ Thank you. _

_ Adrende _

**Author's Note:**

> OKAY I... really meant to take a break after letters BUT i got the brain worm when I said “I need to write Reid” to write a tribute piece to my OTHER comfort character, Ras, so this is one of them. Why didn’t I just finish my modern au of “Reid gets therapy” if I wanted to write Reid? Idk, I just, Princess Adrende is underrated, I love her.


End file.
